Death of Love
by emeralddusk
Summary: He's just a kid. An angry, broken kid. He wasn't ready for what happened.


Young Justice

Death of Love

"Do you have any idea what I've been through?" Jason demanded, slamming his hand down on the computer. "You were the first Boy Wonder. I don't mean anything to them... I'm just supposed to be your replacement. You have no idea what it's like..." Tightening his eyes, Robin stared down at the ground, his pulse still trying to come down from the last spike. "Living in someone else's shadow."

"Wanna bet?" Nightwing replied, setting a bat-shaped dart down next to the newest Robin's hand. "I know it's hard. You never get to be you...but Bruce isn't like that. He loves you."

"No," Jason snarled, deep pain and a single drop of hatred lacing his voice. "He loves you...I'm just a cheap substitution. I'm never gonna amount to shit in his book."

"Just give it time," Dick replied, putting his hand on the angry boy's shoulder. "He'll come around." Shrugging out of the former Boy Wonder's grasp, Todd shot himself around, swiping his cape out as he approached the door. "It's not gonna go away, Jason...You can't just shut it out." Looking back for a brief moment, Robin pressed a green button on the wall, heard the metal doors part, then walked into the hallway, the doors closing behind him.

Sliding into his chair, Nightwing let out a heavy, defeated sigh. "Every single day, I worry about him," Dick declared, staring at the monitor in the meeting hall. "He's too angry. Too torn up over everything. He can't keep living with all that inside him, then doing who knows what as Robin."

"Maybe he'll come around," Donna replied, her kind eyes attempting to connect with Dick's. "He's young."

"But he's growing up fast," Nightwing gravely answered, his tone growing heavier. "His mother died right in front of him. And his father... I took years just to get my head on straight after my parents were killed. But Jason...my god, he's still hurting."

"Bruce wouldn't have him go out there if he wasn't stable," Conner argued. "He's in control."

"No, he's torn up," Dick shot back. "When I left, things started falling apart. He made a bad call."

"In what? Exactly?" Miss Martian replied.

"In turning another kid into Robin," Nightwing lashed out, slamming his hands down on the table. "I thought after everything we went through, he'd figure out it was a bad idea. But he never listens."

"Look, dude," Wally tried to reason. "You're taking on too much. Yeah, the kid's got some anger issues, but so did SB when we first met him." Conner gave Kid Flash a brief glare before turning back to Nightwing. "He's gonna be okay."

"I don't know," Dick finally gave in, shifting his eyes towards the floor.

Disconnecting the bug from the room, Jason glared at the assembly from behind the wall before charging off to the exit.

"Jason," Barbara called out. "Hey, I need your help with something going on just out of Gotham."

"Not now," the boy snarled, not slowing his pace for an instant. Stopped, Barbara watched the angry child storm out to the garage.

Starting the ignition on his bike, Jason felt the platform rise from under his feet. Putting on his helmet, the young man revved his engine, and drove off into the city. The cover of nightfall was comforting for an instant, but the street lights revealed far too much.

In a flash of lightning; in an instant too fast to even recall, Jason lay still on the ground. His nose, left ear, and lip bleeding and his eyes closed, the poor, angry, beautiful boy held his breath forever more. Out of concern for his own well being, Flash and Green Arrow went after the Joker in Batman's place. He was broken; it was like reliving the night in Crime Alley. But this time, it was _all _his fault. Dropping his head, Bruce cradled Jason's cold, lifeless body in his arms, begging, praying for a heartbeat. But it would never come; he was never coming back.

As the rain poured down, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Commissioner James Gordon, and several members of Young Justice disguised by dark sunglasses or veils stood around the hole Jason was gently lowered into.

"I failed him," Dick whispered, feeling Donna's strong, loving arms wrap around his back. His eyes closed, the black-haired young man felt a hot, burning tear form in his eye, then slide down into Donna's finger tip as she wiped it away.

"You did your best," the dark-haired young woman replied. "We all did...Please don't take it all on yourself."

"I swore it wouldn't happen again," Nightwing whispered, his composure broken. "A death in the family."


End file.
